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Emoji in eBooks? Use HTML entities

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Preceded by the emoticon, emoji were first launched in Japan in 1998 and spread to the rest of the world via the Unicode Consortium.

It’s even possible to propose your own emoji to the Unicode Consortium, as described in this video from the WaPo. There are numerous articles on the ambiguity of emojis…

…but for explanations of what they’re meant to mean, you can go to emojipedia.org.

Emoji come to publishing

The increasing prevalence of emoji use affects the publishing industry because as more and more people adopt them, so too is there an increase in their use in books, specifically contemporary fiction where authors are wont to represent text messages, emails and other digital communication.

So how do we set these emoji in books? Well, with printed material there are font packages readily available that contain all the emoji you can think of, but what of the eBook edition? Do we snip out a little image of the emoji on the page and set it in <img> tags? Only as a last resort. With unpredictable device image-rendering and, for example, KindleGen’s tendency to resample images according to its own arcane parameters, we need another solution. This is where encoding comes in.

We use HTML entities. There are various different types of entity: named (&rsquo;), hexadecimal (&#x02019;) and decimal (&#8217;).

According to the Adobe blog, the top three used emoji are 😂 , ❤️ , 😘 . In our experience, the three most common emoji used in books are ☺, ☹ and ♥, so for your ready reference, here’s the entity references for those:

WHITE SMILING FACE ☺

UNICODE: U+0263A

HEX CODE: &#x263A;

DECIMAL CODE: &#9786;

WHITE FROWNING FACE ☹

UNICODE: U+02639

HEX CODE: &#x2639;

DECIMAL CODE: &#9785;

BLACK HEART SUIT ♥

UNICODE: U+02665

HEX CODE: &#x2665;

DECIMAL CODE: &#9829;

NAMED CODE: &hearts;

For more comprehensive listings, check out W3, which has a list of emojis along with their different code points (entity references), while Oliver at GitHub has compiled a huge list including all the family and animal emoji, for less scrolling and an interactive UI, check out &what;.

Emoji comparison image from: GroupLens Research, University of Minnesota

One happy emoji image by Magic Creative from Pixabay

#hex #unicode #decimal #hexadecimal #entity #emoji #html #ebooks

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Umesh Nair

International Executive with focus on Global Growth -20 years working experience in Germany, Singapore, India,Asia, Middle East, Switzerland, Europe across a cultural multi-functional environment.

Specialties: Business Strategy & International partnerships, Global Alliances network in Startup, Technology,Airlines, Aviation, Travel, online travel, E-commerce Business, Luxury Retail, BPO, b2b, ERP Software BusinessDevelopment – Sales, Go to Market, Growth Specialist, Incubation, Entrepreneur in Residence, Senior ClientPartner, Consulting, Market Research – Coleman Research, Lynk Global, Guidepoint, Insight Alpha, GersonLehrman Group.

Mr. Manoj Mehta

Mr. Manoj Mehta, is a Science Graduate and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), practicing as a Chartered Accountant since 1984. He had the great opportunity to complete his article training with M/s. S.V.Ghatalia & Co. (now part of E&Y, one of the big four Consulting Firms in India).

He has got vast experience of 40 years in the profession. His core strength is in the field of Finance, as a Corporate Advisor to public, private and multinational companies in the field of financial planning, raising debt and equity, structuring,  etc. His forte is strategic business and financial planning, compliances, deployment of funds, optimum utilization, budgeting, Preparation and analyzing of qualitative Project feasibility reports, anything and everything related to advising on financial decision making.

He holds trusteeship of a few charitable trust to show his philanthropy side.

He has held leadership roles and has been in the forefront in articulating values and beliefs in a team building approach.

Paul Evans

Dr Paul Evans has a long career in publishing in STM and business sectors since graduating from Oxford University and first working as a computer programmer. He worked for Reed Elsevier in a variety of roles for nearly 25 years (in UK, Netherlands and China) up to, in later years, Senior Vice President at the global headquarters in Amsterdam. He then became Managing Director for SAGE Publishing’s Asia Pacific company at its hub in Singapore for 7 years, doubling its size and performance. Latterly he was for three years Director of Nature Research China with Springer Nature in Shanghai and an adviser to the Chinese government for his industry, and then on return to the UK during Covid he has worked for Maverick Publishing Specialists as a consultant and Charlesworth Publishing Services as Director of Partnerships.

He has also taken a strong interest in education initially as a teacher in Japan, as a lecturer and course leader in Publishing Studies at a Scottish university, and now in working in UK education areas.

Bharath Ramadoss

Head of Production and Operations, has been with Siliconchips since 2015. In his time with us, he has managed a team of dedicated and experienced production team members, both in books, journals development.

A graduate of University of Madras, Bharath has a strong experience in quality, complex workflows in the publishing industry. His skill set includes e-publishing, project and team management, XML and HTML, content development, workflow improvement, and now working closely with technology team and developing various tools and platforms.

He enjoys cricket, and you will find him playing every Saturday.

Becca Mosher

Becca Mosher, US Editorial Project Manager, helped to develop the Siliconchips editorial department in 2015, and her team continues to grow. A graduate of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Missouri – Columbia, Becca has been in the publishing industry since 2007, where she has specialized in e-book project management, editorial management, and editing in a wide variety of styles at all levels, from proofreading to developmental editing. She is proficient in several languages and adept at client relations.

An avid board gamer, Becca teaches different games at a “Learn to Play” night once a week.

Abhijit Pathre

Abhijit Pathre, our Director of Account Management, manages data, accounts, delivery and operations, and maintains client relationships. He is highly experienced in the technology field and possesses excellent communication and problem-resolution skills; prior to joining Siliconchips Services, he was with Hutchison Global Services, working in 3G, and Goldshield Business Solutions, a UK-based Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm.

He leads with a humbleness that compels the team to follow his direction. His firm commitment and his vast fifteen-year experience spanning various industries contribute to his essential role as a member of the Siliconchips Services team in India.

Shahid Chowdhary

Shahid Chowdhary began Siliconchips Services in London in September 2010, with one basic idea: to build an organisation committed to value-based leadership and promoting a culture of trust, transparency, integrity and mutual respect.

Shahid received his graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Srinagar and his post-graduate in Marketing and Finance from NMIMS, Mumbai – both leading engineering and business schools in India and he was certified by Baan in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). He has acquired numerous professional qualifications in innovation, strategy and leadership development throughout his career, including Leadership Management Institute (LMI) in the US and Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) in London. Over the years he has worked with various multinational companies in India, the US and the UK, including engineering, software development and publishing companies.

Shahid is the driving force behind Siliconchips Services; he focuses on new markets, business development, human resources development and planning for the continued growth of the company. He unites his teams across borders, and encourages a cohesive working community to give our clients a professional and pleasant experience with Siliconchips Services.

Over the weekends, Shahid spends time with his two daughters, practicing martial arts, and volunteering at the stables for his love of horses.